Which strobes to keep?

[skynscuba]

I just picked up a lot of used camera gear, which included two YS-27DX strobes and one YS-90 Auto strobe. All have supposedly only been used on a couple of dive trips, and they really do look factory new.

I am wondering which of these are the better to keep, to work with various digital cameras, connect by optical cables. I do not anticipate ever having a housing with an electrical connector, so the TTL/cable fired feature of the 90 Auto doesn't seem to do much extra for me, other than the higher guide number. I don't need 3 strobes (actually, I'd only planned on one).

I also picked up a DX-8000G with the lot, which really does seem to do a pretty good job of exposure and image quality for various indoor and outdoor surface shots.

So, which of these are better to keep? Or should I sell all 3 and buy one of the S2000's that I have been eyeing?

 

[RussR]

This is funny. I was going to post about which strobe to buy the YS27 DX or the YS90 TTL (is that the same as the auto?)

the 27 seems to have better recycle rate and more manual settings while the 90 has a higher guide # and better coverage but the 2 manual settings make me a little nervous since i would be using a fiber optic cable as well

Let me know what you decided and if anyone else cares to chime in I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Russ

 

[skynscuba]

I haven't decided yet. The YS-90 Auto isn't the same as the YS90TTL. If I understand correctly it will do true TTL if you have an electrical sync cord, but for optical sync, it only works in "auto" mode. The strobe has a sensor for reflected light; you set the f-stop on the strobe to the same as the camera, and the exposure comes out pretty much right. If not, adjust the f-stop on one or the other (probably the strobe, since the camera f-stop was supposedly selected for a reason) and shoot again.

 

[skynscuba]

...
the 27 seems to have better recycle rate

If you are firing optically, rather than an electrical cable, you may find that the limiting factor is the recycle time of the camera flash, not the external strobe.

 

[skynscuba]

I haven't decided yet. The YS-90 Auto isn't the same as the YS90TTL. If I understand correctly it will do true TTL if you have an electrical sync cord, but for optical sync, it only works in "auto" mode. The strobe has a sensor for reflected light; you set the f-stop on the strobe to the same as the camera, and the exposure comes out pretty much right. If not, adjust the f-stop on one or the other (probably the strobe, since the camera f-stop was supposedly selected for a reason) and shoot again.

Okay, more info on the YS-90 Auto, after some web reading:

Yes, as above, it has only an Auto mode if you use an optical slave sync cord. HOWEVER, if you block the strobe's reflected light sensor, it then behaves very much like the YS-90DX. i.e., the "f-stop" settings become manual strobe settings. So, I have a manual mode, like my YS-27DX, but 21% more powerful strobe, and I can still use the Auto mode. I just shot a couple of hundred shots in my house, checking this out and verifying operation. The "f-stop" setting seems to set a maximum strobe output (as would be needed when far from a subject), and the sensor can cut that down if it is getting a lot of reflected light (from close up subjects).

I found the Auto function to work quite well. It allowed me to take (surface) macro shots that were totally washed out if I tried using the camera flash.

The thing that people don't like about the Auto mode, is that one doesn't always point the strobe at the subject. Rather, you point the strobe such that the edge of the strobe light illuminates the subject. In this case, the "auto" sensor isn't sensing reflected light from the subject, so much as from whatever is 40 degrees to the side.

So, I'd say that the Auto, with an optional cover for the reflected light sensor, is definitely a more versatile and valuable strobe than the YS-90DX.

I'm still salivating over the tiny size and weight of the S-2000 strobes, but they are also ~150grams more negative in buoyancy than the YS-90, and less powerful.